Karnataka: School girl confronts government official for extra library hours

In the video, a girl questions an official about extension of timings when he visits a library on Monday.

School students in rural Karnataka have asked the state to extend timings of gram panchayat community libraries in a video that has been widely shared online. In the video, a girl questions an official about extension of timings when he visits a library on Monday.

School girl confronts government official for extra library hours.

The girl is seen asking the officer to extend timings to eight hours a day - from the current period of six hours - and she also submitted a letter on behalf of her fellow students.

The official petitioned was LK Ateeq, additional chief secretary in the rural development ministry, and he shared the video, writing, "When I visited a GP library that we have set up I was confronted by this spunky young girl, ready with a petition she wrote. She wanted us to increase the library hours from the current 6 hrs a day to 8 hrs a day."

In March Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said his government would add digital devices to gram panchayat libraries. The government also made it mandatory to keep copies of the Indian Constitution, as well as key publication and annual reports of government schemes and services, in all gram panchayat libraries.